Container



Jam 19, 1965 G. A. MoBLEY 3,166,226

CONTAINER Filed Feb. 25, 1963 'A'TToRN EY United States PatentOiihce y3,156,226 Patented Jan. 19, 1965 3,166,226 CONTAINER George A. Mobley,Spartanburg, S.C., assignor to Milliken Tetra Pak, a division of ClemsonIndustries, Inc., Pacolet, S.C., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb.25, 1963, Ser. No. 260,594

3 Claims. (Cl. 229-7) This invention relates to liquid filled sealedtetrahedron containers provided with means for obtaining access to thecontents thereof.

Tetrahedron containers are rapidly gaining acceptance as containers fora wide variety of liquids, despite certain diliiculties associated withthe use of the containers, because of the substantial economies realizedby the use thereof instead of the conventional' rectangular containers.One of the problems associated with the use of tetrahedron containers isthat by the very nature by which the containers are formed, it isditlicult to provide means for obtaining access to the contents of thecontainer.

One means that has been recommended is to snip off one corner of thecontainer with scissors. Because o-f the obvious limitations involved inthis manner of opening the container, containers have been formed withslit or tearable areas. See, for example, U.S. Patent Nos. 2,952,394 and3,038,649. With containers in which the corner is intended to be tornofi", there is always the danger of spilling some of the contents of thecontainer during the tearing operation. Also, arcontainer having aweaker portion at a seal is more susceptible to leakage if the containeris subjected to any pressure or stress.

Another problem associated with providing" means `for obtaining accessto the contents is that whatever means is employed must not be such asto expose the contents of the container to an unacceptable material whenthe contents of the container is an edible product. This substantiallyprecludes the use of any arrangement utilizing moisture sensitive orpressure sensitive adhesives for such end uses.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a liquid filledsealed tetrahedron container bearing means to obtain access to thecontents thereof free from the above-described limitations andobjections.

Another object is to provide such a container whose access means is notsusceptible to leakage at the access point.

Another object is to provide such a tetrahedron container which can beproduced on equipment presently being employed for producing tetrahedroncontainers not bearing such an access means.

Still another object is to provide a tetrahedron container having accessmeans adapted for the insertion of a drinking straw into the container.

Another object is to provide such a tetrahedron'container in whichaccess to the contents thereof can readily be gained by young childrenwithout instruction.

A further object is to provide such a container whose access means isclearly visible.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which thisinvention pertains.

Accordingto this invention there is provided liquid filled sealedtetrahedron containers having means for obtaining access to the contentsthereof by an opening at the uppermost area of a wall thereof, theopening being covered by a tape sealed to the container wall around theopening by the bonding of the thermoplastic material forming one face ofthe tape to the outer face of the opening bearing wall, the tape havingat least one corner o-f the end portion which is uppermost unsealed tothe container wall to provide a pull tab with which to remove the tapefrom the container, the unsealed corner or corners of the unsealedportion extending outwardly away from the walls of the container.

Liquid filled tetrahedron containers can be produced employing equipmentas described in U.S. Patent Nos. 2,738,631; 2,741,079; 2,784,540;2,821,250; 2,832,271; 2,869,299; and 2,895,731. If the container is tobe formed and filled under aseptic conditions, the procedures disclosedin U.S. Patent Nos. 2,918,770; 2,928,219; 3,063,211 and 3,063,845 can befollowed. The tab seals will ordinari-ly be provided by this apparatusbetween the point where the paper stock is unrolled and the point wherethe partially formed container is filled with liquid, eg., in the mannerdescribed 4herein and as described in detail in copending applicationS.N. 260,587 filed on even date herewith claiming apparatus forproducing the novel containers of this invention. i

The containers of this invention are formed from laminated stockmaterial, the innermost lamina of which is a layer of thermoplasticmaterial substantially impervious and inert to the contents of thecontainer, such containers being now well known in the art. Thelaminated material used to form these containers is ordinarily one ormore layers of paper laminated to layers of polyethylene orpolypropylene so that the face of the laminated material which will formthe inner face of the container will present a liquid impervious face tothe contents. The outermost lamina is ordinarily moisture resistant,either by being formed of a layer of wet strength paper or a lamina ofthermoplastic materials such as wax or polyethylene, or both. Thecontainer will bear the conventional transverse sealed seams andlongitudinal butt, i.e., inside face to inside face, or lapped seam. Atthe apex which is upper-most of the wall which faces upward when thecontainer rests on the opposite wall, there is provided an accessaperture in the wall. This will ordinarily be a small round hole which,if the container is a pint or half-pint size, will be about the sizewhich will receive a drinking straw. The opening is sealed by a tapecovering the opening and bonded to the outer face of the portion of thewall surrounding the opening by the bonding of the portion of thethermoplastic material forming at least one face of the tape to theoutermost lamina of the container, thus providing a liquid tight seal.To insure that the tape can be removed properly and readily, there isprovided an end portion on the tape, preferably the uppermost portion,which is'not sealedt-o the container wall, thus providing a pull tab. Atleast one corner of the unsealed end portion extends outwardly away fromthe container walls. The tape is ordinarily formed of paper laminated topolyethylene or paper impregnated with polyethylene, polypropylene, orwax.

This invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in whichFIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sealed tetrahedron container of thisinvention having a tape sealed opening in a wall thereof; and

FIG. 2 is a highly enlarged cross-sectional view of the opening bearingportion of the wall of the tetrahedron container of FIG. 1, taken alongline II--lI;

As shown in FIG. 1, the tetrahedron container 1, having the usualtransverse seams 2 and 3, has an opening 4 positioned at the uppermostapex 5 of the wall 6 facing upward when the container 1 rests on'thewall opposite of the opening bearing wall 6. The opening 4i is sealed bya tape 7 covering the opening 4 and sealed to the portion of the wall 6surrounding the opening 4. An end portion 8 or at least one corner 8athereof ofthe tape 7 is unsealed to the container to provide a pull tabfor removing the tape when access to the contents of the container isdesired. The unsealed corner or corners of unsealed end portion 8 extendoutwardly from the walls of the contailler, as shown in FIG. 1, toprovide a winged effect to when the container is used by young childrenor persons with poor vision. An optional feature is an uncoated strip 9along the container wall 6 when the wall is coated with Wax or othermaterial which would tend to interfere with the sealing of the tape 7 tothe wall 6.

Details of the construction of the container Wall 6 and the tape 7 ofthe container 1 are shown in FIG. 2 along with the manner in which thetape issealed to the wall. The Wall 6 shown in FIG. 2 is a laminatedpaper consisting essentially f two layers 28 and 21 of wet strengthpaper alternated by two layers 22 and 23 of polyethylene, one of whichlayers 22 forms the interior face of the Wall 6L The tape 7 covering theopening 4- is a laminated tape having yan outer paper layer 24 and aninner polyethylene Vlayer 25. The seal between the tape 7 and the paperlamina 21 of Wall 6 in the container Il shown in the drawings wasachieved by heat sealing which caused some of the polyethylene lamina 25of the tape 7 to penetrate into the outer portion 26 of the mostexteriorly positioned paper lamina 21 of Wall 6 so that the polyethyleneis infused around the fibers in that portion of the lamina.' This can beseen when the tape is pulled from the container. A thin layer of fibersfrom the paper lamina 21 can be seen imbedded in the polyethylene laminaZ5. The heat sealing causes a bead Which can be a shallow bead 27 or adeep bead 27 to be formed around the edge of the opening 4. This tendsto reduce edge wicking into paper lamina 21 or eliminate such wickingwhen the bead 27' penetrates deeply enoughinto the opening 4 to bondwith the polyethylene lamina 23 of the Wall 6 of the container. This isparticularly important if the paper lamina has low wet strength, inWhich case it is most desirable for the bead to penetrate into theopening 4 until a liquid tight seal is achieved between the innermostpositioned polyethylene lamina 22 and bead 27'. The heat sealing causesa recessed portion 2S in the tape 7 as a result of the portion of f thetape being drawn into the opening 4. As also shown in FIG. 1, a portion8 of the tape 'l is left unsealed to the container to provide a pull tabfor removing the tape.

While it will be apparent that the containers of this invention can beformed individually by cutting a hole in a sealed conventionaltetrahedron container and heat sealing a tape having a polyethylene faceover the opening, the containers of this invention are of commercialsigni-ficance because they can be formed using commercial apparatuspresently available for this purpose by incorporating in the apparatusan aperture forming and tape sealing device.

The stock used to make the tetrahedron containers can be formed of awide variety of laminated products, e.g., a polyethylene, polypropylene,polyvinylchloride, poly- 4 Y vinyl acetate, nylon, polyester, or otherthermoplastic film or layers laminated to paper, fabric, aluminum foil,lead foil or other suitable packaging material. The tape used to formthe seal over the aperture can be constructed Wholly of one of the abovethermoplastic materials or it can also be a laminated product like thecontainer stock. Generally, a polyethylene-paper laminated product ispreferred for both.

The size and shape of the opening or aperture in the container willdepend upon itsV intended use, i.e., whether or not it is to be used asa pouring opening or as an opening for insertion of a drinkingstraw.However, a round hole about 3/16" to 3/s is preferred when the containeris a half-pint or pint size containing milk or a soft drink.

The tape can be colored so as to blend or contrast with the containerwall and can bear printing Ysuch as advertising or instructions onopening the container.

What is claimed is: r

1. A liquid filled tetrahedron container formed of laminated material,the innermost lamina of which is a thermoplastic continuous layersubstantially impervious and inert to the contents of the container, awall of which container bears an aperture through one wall only thereoffor providing access to the contents of the container positioned atabout that apex of the wall which is uppermost when the container isresting on the wall opposite the aperture bearing wall, the aperturebeing sealed by a tape having the surface that faces the container wallbeing formed of a thermoplastic material, at least a portion of which isinfused around at least the outermost lamina of the container to form aliquid tight seal between the tape and the container and a portion ofWhich forms a bead around the edge of the aper-ture, and with at leastone corner of the end portion of the tape which is positioned uppermostwith respect to the upright container being un- `sealedto the containerWall and extending outwardly away from thewalls of the container, thusproviding a readily locatable pull tab with which to remove the tapefrom the container.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the innermost lamina of saidcontainer is polyethylene.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein the surface of said tape facing saidcontainer wall is polyethylene.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,038,649y 6/62Rausing 229-17 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,222,847 6/60 France.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

1. A LIQUID FILLED TETRAHEDRON CONTAINER FORMED OF LAMINATED MATERIAL,THE INNERMOST LAMINA OF WHICH IS A THERMOPLASTIC CONTINUOUS LAYERSUBSTANTIALLY IMPERVIOUS AND INERT TO THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINER, AWALL OF WHICH CONTAINER BEARS AN APERTURE THROUGH ONE WALL ONLY THEREOFFOR PROVIDING ACCESS TO THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINER POSITIONED ATABOUT THAT APEX OF THE WALL WHICH IS UPPERMOST WHEN THE CONTAINER ISRESTING ON THE WALL OPPOSITE THE APERTURE BEARING WALL, THE APERTUREBEING SEALED BY A TAPE HAVING THE SURFACE THAT FACES THE CONTAINER WALLBEING FORMED OF A THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL, AT LEAST A PORTION OF WHICH ISINFUSED AROUND AT LEAST THE OUTERMOST LAMINA OF THE CONTAINER TO FORM ALIQUID TIGHT SEAL BETWEEN THE TAPE AND THE CONTAINER AND A PORTION OFWHICH FORMS A BEAD AROUND THE EDGE OF THE APERTURE, AND WITH AT LEASTONE CORNER OF THE END PORTION OF THE TAPE WHICH IS POSITIONED UPPERMOSTWITH RESPECT TO THE UPRIGHT CONTAINER BEING UNSEALED TO THE CONTAINERWALL AND EXTENDING OUTWARDLY AWAY FROM THE WALLS OF THE CONTAINER, THUSPROVIDING A READILY LOCATABLE PULL TAB WITH WHICH TO REMOVE THE TAPEFROM THE CONTAINER.